Broken
by DivineRose771
Summary: A young child is abused severely by her parents,and can she be saved? If she can, what will the consequences be? Rated T for extreme abuse and some language! Please read and review!
1. Prologue

**I'm sorry this isn't Twilight, but it was the most suitable category I could find. There wasn't a category for what I was looking for either. Well, please read and review! :)**_  
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_Her hands come up to protect herself. However, that proves useless and the attacks just keep coming. Her small eyes look up pleading her beater to stop. But still, he carries on laughing like a sinister hyena. The bruises are turning into the size of golf balls. If golf balls were dark purple, that is. Slowly, but painfully, the beating stops and she is left on the floor._

Cruelty. Suffering. Submission. What could be worse than the torture of such fragile innocence?

A fist is thrown onto a child's body, and many more follow. They are thrown many times, creating marks all over the child. For punishment, maybe. Or for the joy of giving pain to her. Or both. Areli is the child, who has to put up with all of this. Her real mother had passed away when she was young, but this didn't stop her stepparents from torturing her.


	2. The Beginning

"So you're back, Areli?" a woman with a rasping voice asked. It was Tracey Caron, my stepmother. "Yes," I replied. I had just come back from a stroll outside, since I needed time to be alone for a while. I was about to go to my room, when she stopped me.

"Why couldn't you knock?" she snapped. "Before entering my own house?" I said back. "Don't talk to me like that! Show your mother some respect!" my stepmother yelled, clearly showing she was angry. I could not believe what I was hearing. Tracey was my stepmother, not my real mother. And this house was the house that my mother and I used to live in, yet I still had to knock?

"My mother…is dead," I argued. After a few seconds of silence, she stood up, and glared at me with eyes as hard as stone and as cold as ice.

Ignoring this, I turned to leave for my room. I went upstairs. But when I was on the second step, I winced as I felt my stepmother yank my hair and turned me around.

"Let go, you-"A really hard slap to my face was given to cut me off, leaving a bruise. I gasped and opened my mouth to speak, but my other cheek was slapped twice as hard, sending me reeling to the cold, unforgiving floor.

"You don't talk like this to me, Areli, or anyone. I don't care if your mother is dead or not. Understand?" my stepmother yelled, and kicked me in the ribs and spinal cord. "Answer me! Do you understand?" she yelled once again, and stomped on my head with the heel of her shoe. I let out a cry, and not wanting to feel any more pain, I replied, "Y-Yes…mother…" Satisfied with my answer, she kicked my back a few times more and left, saying "Good." After a few moments, I got up slowly, clutching my ribs, and stumbled up to my room.

When I finally got to my room, I checked my mirror, and sure enough, there were several spots of blue and black on my upper body and back. There was a dark purple bruise on my cheek, too. Touching it gently, I winced a bit, and I went to my bed with tears streaking out of my eyes, moistening my face.

I could not believe what she just did to me. My stepmother had promised my mother that she would take good care of me, yet still… All I did was simply talk back…She could've just lectured me or something, but instead...

I looked at the picture of Amanda Castro, my real mother. I wished she was here with me. To protect me. To be with me. But most of all, I wanted her back. These thoughts flew around in my head until I saw nothing but black, and I fell asleep.

The sun's bright shine had awoken me. It was a Monday morning, and I had to go to school. I was relieved, since I could see my friends again. Also, it meant I could be free of the abuse for a while. And maybe I could even report to my teacher about this…

My thoughts were interrupted as my door opened and my stepmother came in. I stood up. As much as I resented her for what she did, I knew I had to obey and be respectful, or else. "Yes, mother?" "Your father is here to deal with your behavior from last night. Be prepared." She replied with a smirk. I gasped. I didn't think I'd be punished again. However, I knew it was going to be severe.

William Evans, my stepfather, came in. He grabbed me by my arm and pulled me downstairs. "Sorry," he said, "But you're not going to school today. You need to be punished." He slapped me across my already bruised face, deepening the bruise. Not only that, he yanked my hair, arching my neck painfully. "Father…please…" I begged. "Shut up, Areli. You can beg or cry all you want, but that's not going to change your punishment." He sneered, and pulled me into the torture room. There, I saw him pull out a whip, and fear took its hold on me, as I knew what was going to happen.

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**Please read and review! If I can get at least 5 reviews, I will upload another chapter! Thank you.**

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	3. Punishment

The harsh slap of the whip wounded the air, followed by screams of pain. Severe pain, that is.

Due to the impact of the whip, fresh cuts were made all over my body. Some were deep, as they were struck twice in the same area. Others were not, as they had only been struck once. "This is such a disappoint, Areli. I never expected you to disrespect your mother," my father chided. "Yes...I'm sorry…" I answered, afraid of earning a worse beating if I didn't.

My father then walked over to where I was, but was stopped by someone opening the door and entering. I didn't have the strength to look up, because I was in too much pain. But when I heard the voice, I knew exactly who it was: Terrance Castro, my older brother. However, I had never thought of him as a brother. He was more of a…demon. He always loved seeing me in pain. "Well, now. I see you're punishing Areli. What did she do this time?" he asked in a sarcastic tone, obviously amused that I was being punished.

"I think you already know, Terrance. She disrespected her mother." My father replied, rolling his eyes. Terrance then smirked and said, "I see. And is her punishment even over yet?" My father scoffed. "Not even close." And the next thing I knew was that my father was right in front of me. My half opened eyes were glued to the floor, but that changed when I felt a finger curl under my chin and lifted my head up. I was then looking at my father, straight into his stone eyes.

"So," that harsh tone of his began, "Do you not understand? You are our daughter, and you know our expectations. You don't disrespect your mother, or anyone." "Yes…father…I understand." I replied. He then went over to where the other whips were held, and he took out one with small metal spikes at the end. With a smirk, he said, "You may have learned your lesson, but I'm not through with you yet." I let out a gasp. Horror grasped me, and I shut my eyes tightly, I braced myself for the thrashing once more.

The metal spiked whip struck my arm. The pain started as if in slow motion. However, it wasn't the same as before. It was worse, much worse. But it wasn't the end of it. It kept coming. I heard it whiz through the air, the high piercing whistle, moving further away and then gaining in pitch and velocity as it came down across the tender flesh of my stomach.

I screamed in pain, which seemed to make Terrance laugh. I gave him a glare, but this was gone as soon as there was another rip to my arm, and he continued laughing. At the sound of each crack I could feel what I would describe as a cold fire surging across my body. Literally. With each strike, the pain grew more and more agonizing. In contrast to the cold burning, I started to feel warm streams of blood running down my body. It was deepening several cuts and making new ones. The pain was becoming unbearable, and I cursed myself for lacking the ability to slip into unconsciousness. I couldn't escape.

After the last strike, I was breathing heavily, and so was my father, since he was tired after putting all his strength into beating me. My blood was dripping to the floor. I knew several new wounds were made, and many of them had deepened. "You deserved this, Areli. And you know it. Never disrespect anyone. Is that clear?" My father said, not flinching once. "Yes…father…" I answered weakly. I guess he was satisfied with my answer, because he took the chains off of my wrists. Once they were off, my body gave away and I fell to the floor. My stepparents then left without saying a word or looking at me, but Terrance stayed behind.

With a smirk, he grabbed one of the whips and started striking my back. I yelped with each slash, and I tried not to beg for him to stop, because that would only satisfy his lust for my begging, and I wasn't going to give him that. "Terrance! That's enough! Do you want the teachers to find out about her abuse?" I heard my father's voice. "Ugh!…Fine!" Terrance replied, somewhat annoyed, and struck me once more. After he left, it was just me, alone.

I lay still on the floor for a couple minutes, and I finally managed to get on my knees, and soon, my feet, but it was difficult. The excruciating pain all over my body was too enormous to endure. I staggered with all the strength I had to exert. I stumbled forward trying to regain control of my legs. As soon as I straightened my spine I felt my skin pull and a flash of white, hot pain seared every fresh wound. I collapsed back to the floor trying to hide the obvious pain, scared of appearing weak and unable to take the consequences of what I had done. I was finally able to get up again, and I stumbled out the door, grasping my side. That's where it hurt the most, since the whip had struck me repeatedly in that area.

Trembling up the stairs, I couldn't hold myself up. The words spun around me at a pace of 100 miles per hour 'Did that really just happen?' I thought to myself. Everything seemed to slow down. I felt like a mouse in a room with 30 mouse traps. There was no escape. I crawled up the stairs, as if I were climbing Mount Everest. As I reached my room, I thought about last night, when I talked back to my stepmother, and that's what earned me this, but I couldn't believe how severely I was punished. I finally reached my room and crumpled to the floor. I couldn't stand any longer.

I managed to crawl to my bed, and I collapsed on it, and I slowly curled up into foetal position. I closed my eyes and started crying softly. Suicidal thoughts swarmed my head, but I pushed them away. As much as I wanted to, I knew I couldn't do it. But I was in so much pain. So much. All this torture…for one small offense? I couldn't believe how my stepparents treated me. My real mother had never treated me like this. Not even close. But now I knew I had to be careful, or else.

All these thoughts were interrupted as I heard my phone ring, which meant someone sent me a message. I looked over at it. The phone was a gift from my mother, about a month before she passed away. I treasured it, as it was a gift from her, and I knew I could not let my stepparents know about it, or they'd break it.

I suddenly remembered that it had ringed, and I slowly went over to pick it up. I flipped it open, and I found a message from Juan Lopez, my best friend. The message said, 'Hey, Areli. How are you, and why didn't you come to school today?' After reading it, I closed the phone and put it down. I guess I still hadn't told him about my abuse. He must've been wondering why I was acting so strange lately. I was too afraid to tell anyone, especially him, and I knew I couldn't reply. I felt like calling the police right now, but I knew I would regret it terribly if I did. My stepparents would kill me if I did, or even worse, torture me to death. These thoughts were stopped when I heard someone coming up the stairs.

I gasped and hid my phone. A few seconds later, the door opened, and Terrance came in. He walked over to my bed, and sat down beside me. I grimaced and shut my eyes tightly. This was not good. Having him over where I was after a punishment only meant one thing: He was going to beat me.

And sure enough, I was right, as he slapped my cheek. "I don't care how harsh your punishment was, and I'm still going to hurt you." He snarled, and slapped my other cheek. I let out a small cry, and he raised his hand, about to hit me again. Before he brought it down, my father came in. "Terrance! What did I tell you!" he said, clearly showing he was annoyed.

Terrance rolled his eyes and muttered, "Whatever," and turned to leave. He looked at me one last time before leaving and mouthed the words, 'you will pay'. After that, he left. I was left to my own thoughts. The first thing that came to my mind was how I was going to hide this secret from Juan He cares for me a lot, and he always questions me if he notices something is wrong with me. 'Just act normal,' I told myself. But still, I would probably be limping a little, because of the wounds on my legs. And with that, I felt my eyelids droop, and before I knew it I was fast asleep, despite the pain I was in.


End file.
